Māori Literature Trust has embarked on a Project of 100 Kaituhi Māori, and has recently highlighted two gifted Te Āti Awa writers.
Read Maori Literature Trust’s author spotlight on Alice Te Punga Somerville here, and a bibliography of her writing here, via komako.org.nz. Below are the pukapuka by Alice that we have in our libraries:
Once were Pacific : Māori connections to Oceania / Te Punga Somerville, Alice
“Native identity is usually associated with a particular place. But what if that place is the ocean? Once Were Pacific explores this question as it considers how Māori and other Pacific peoples frame their connection to the ocean, to New Zealand, and to each other through various creative works. . In this sustained treatment of the Māori diaspora, Te Punga Somerville provides the first critical analysis of relationships between Indigenous and migrant communities in New Zealand.”–Back cover.” (Adapted from catalogue)
Two hundred and fifty ways to start an essay about Captain Cook / Te Punga Somerville, Alice
“Alice Te Punga Somerville employs her deep research and dark humour to skilfully channel her response to Cook’s global colonial legacy”–Back cover.” (Catalogue)
Always italicise : how to write while colonised / Te Punga Somerville, Alice
“‘Always italicise foreign words’, a friend of the author was advised. In her first book of poetry, Māori scholar and poet Alice Te Punga Somerville does just that. In wit and anger, sadness and aroha, she reflects on ‘how to write while colonised’ – how to write in English as a Māori writer; how to trace links between Aotearoa and wider Pacific, Indigenous and colonial worlds; how to be the only Māori person in a workplace; and how – and why – to do the mahi anyway.” – Publisher’s information.” (Catalogue)
The spotlight on Kōtuku Titihuia Nuttall can be found here and these pukapuka below, featuring her work, can be found in our libraries:
Tauhou / Nuttall, Kōtuku Titihuia
“An inventive exploration of Indigenous families, womanhood, and alternate post-colonial realities by a writer of Māori and Coast Salish descent … Tauhou envisions a shared past between two Indigenous cultures, set on reimagined versions of Vancouver Island and Aotearoa, two lands that now sit side by side in the ocean. Each chapter in this innovative hybrid novel is a fable, an autobiographical memory, a poem. Tauhou is an ardent search for answers, for ways to live with truth. It is a longing for home, to return to the land and sea”–Front flap.” (Adapted from catalogue)
Hiwa : contemporary Māori short stories
“Contemporary Māori short stories, featuring twenty-seven writers working in English or te reo Māori. The writers range from famous names and award winners – Patricia Grace, Witi Ihimaera, Whiti Hereaka, Becky Manawatu, Zeb Nicklin – to emerging voices like Shelley Burne-Field, Jack Remiel Cottrell, Anthony Lapwood and Colleen Maria Lenihan. Hiwa includes biographical introductions for each writer’s work. Named for Hiwa-i-te-rangi, the ninth star of Matariki, signifying vigorous growth and dreams of the year ahead”–Publisher information.” (Catalogue)
Te awa o kupu : a stunning new collection of poetry & stories by contemporary Māori writers
“Over 80 contemporary Māori writers explore a vast array of issues that challenge, stimulate and intrigue. With originality and insight, these poems and short stories express compassion, concern, curiosity, suffering and joy. Te Awa o Kupu is a companion volume to Nga Kupu Wero, which focuses on recent non-fiction. Together these two passionate and vibrant anthologies reveal that the irrepressible river of words flowing from Māori writers today shows us who and what we are”–Publisher information.” (Catalogue)
